Varshasb Royanov

Varshasb Goudarzovich Royanov (18 July 1943-) was the President of the People's Republic of Tajikistan from 26 December 1991. Royanov was the country's post-communist leader, and he ruled the country as a socialist people's republic before leading it as a democratic socialist nation.

Biography
Varshasb Goudarzovich Royanov was born in Leninabad, Tajik SSR, Soviet Union (now Khujand, Tajikistan) on 18 July 1943, and he graduated from the Stalinabad Polytechnic Institute with a degree in metallurgy. Royanov became a foreman at a small arms manufacturing plant in Leninabad, and he became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's committee in the factory. Royanov rose through the ranks of the Communist Party of Tajikistan to become its Chairman in 1990, and he was the leader of the party at the time of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991. Royanov became the president of the independent People's Republic of Tajikistan, leading the country as a communist dictatorship. In January 1992, Royanov and many communist officials distanced themselves from their communist heritage and ran as Agrarian Party of Tajikistan candidates in an election to decide on the holder of the presidency for an eight-year term. The January 1992 Tajik presidential plebiscite allowed for Royanov to run for office, and he won the election in a landslide.

The republic became a presidential dictatorship under Royanov, who switched from the conservative Agrarian Party to the socialist People's Democratic Party of Tajikistan on 1 April 1992. Royanov passed progressive social reforms; in January 1992, he passed public health care legislation, followed by low pensions in April, general tax increases, military budget cuts, and administration and education budget increases in September, universal healthcare in August 1993, subsidized higher education in March 1994, vacation rights in January 1995, a new constitution in January 1995, free universal healthcare in January 2002, the Ghent System for unemployment in 2003, and transition to democracy in November 2006. While the 2007 Tajik presidential election was democratic, Royanov won re-election with 87.23% of the vote.